Namgyal Bhutia and Leon Augustine struck a goal apiece as Bengaluru FC defeated an eight-man Kerala Blasters 2-0 to start its campaign on a winning note in the 130th Durand Cup football tournament at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday.
Blasters dominated the Group C contest between the two Indian Super League (ISL) outfits early on and created some good chances.
Alert custodian
However, BFC’s alert custodian Lara Sharma brilliantly saved Sreekuttan and Adrian Luna’s shots in the 33rd and 38th minutes respectively.
Bhutia’s 45th free-kick broke the deadlock.
Three red cards
Madness prevailed on the ground resulting in three red cards for the Blasters in the second half.
R.V. Hormipam was the first to go in the 64th minute, followed by Sandeep Singh and Denechandra Meitei. It practically took away the Blasters’ chance for a revival.
In the 71st minute, Augustine scored from Harmanpreet Singh’s cross to make it 2-0.
Lara was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his outstanding effort.
The result:
Group C: Bengaluru FC 2 (Namgyal Bhutia 45, Leon Augustine 71) bt Kerala Blasters FC 0.
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